Chapter 9: The dangerous game

He paused before answering. He knew he needed a good story. Mr. Crane had never before had a job. He had always just been wealthy. No one ever asked what he did. Or, if they did, he could deflect their questions like he had originally done with hers. Jessica was much more persistent than most people. David went through the various possible jobs that would capitalize on reading people. She wouldn’t buy his being a cop. He didn’t have the ID to be a fed. He needed something vague, something to hold her interest, while he worked on the details.

He offered a smile. “I’m in investigations.”

“Investigations?” she prompted. She wanted more. More that he didn’t have to give her, yet. David made a mental note to forge himself an investigator’s license and put it in his wallet, just in case she ever rooted through it.

“What are your hobbies?” He had to deflect her again, to gain some thinking time.

She blinked. “What?”

“What do you do for fun?” It surprised him how interested he really was. He wasn’t just faking it. He had really considered the possibility of her rooting through his wallet. And without thinking she was going to lift it from him. “You said your job was boring, so you must do something. What do you do, other than go to museums and try to figure out paintings?”

She looked down at her watch. He noticed that it was an expensive brand, but almost definitely a knock off. At least the name was spelled right. “Um. I don’t know. I go to movies. I feed my cat.”

“Persian?”

She smiled. “Nope.”

“Just checking,” his smile had every ounce of charm he could muster in it.

She looked at him for a few seconds; her eyes sparkling in the bar’s dim lighting. She took a sip of her iced tea. “You’re a funny man, Mr. Crane.”

“Thank you Agent Scott.” He cleared his throat. Things were going well enough for him to take a step forward. He needed more time with her, to find out if the feds were watching the painting or watching him. “Do you like Broadway?”

“Yeah, sure.” She shrugged. “Who doesn’t?”

“I know a few.” He winked at her and took another sip of his drink. “Would you like to go see a show with me? I have an extra ticket for Les Miserables tonight. Are you off duty by five o’clock?”

She didn’t answer right away. For a second, David wondered if she didn’t like that one for some reason. “Are you serious?” She asked.

“Absolutely.” He let himself smile. “I’ve heard it’s a good show. We can go to dinner afterwards. What do you say?”

She stared at him. He wondered for a second if he had gone too far too fast, if she was going to turn him down. “If you have other plans—” he offered her a convenient way out.

“No, I don’t have any other plans.” She smiled, a frightened, but interested, look in her eyes. ”And I’d love to go to the show with you. What, um, what kind of restaurant are we going—that is, how should I dress?”

“Dress however you like Jessica.” He gave her a warm smile he didn’t need to fake at all. “I myself will be wearing just a jacket and tie. We’ll see what we feel like after the show.”

“Okay. That sounds good. I mean, I’m a little shocked by this whole—“

David nodded. “Yeah, I know. I move kind of fast.” He finished his drink. “I didn’t used to be this spontaneous.”

“What changed?”

“I came to a realization.”

“What’s that?”

“Sometimes life doesn’t let us wait, so you should never waste time.” He set the drink down and established solid eye contact. “You know what I mean?”

“You know Michael, something tells me you’re the kind of guy my mother always warned me about.”

She had no idea.